Orthoses are medical means for supporting the limitations of the functionality of extremities, for instance as a consequence of cerebral palsies, foot drop paralyses, strokes, muscular dystrophies, or polio myelitis. Orthoses allow the fixation of body parts to stabilize movements and/or protect and support movement of joints. Orthoses are applied externally on the extremity to be treated and are worn over longer periods of time. Since human anatomy and also the type of restraint can be very different, orthoses need to be adjusted individually to the respective patient. From prior art, orthoses are known that can be adjusted by a variety of adjustment devices. Other orthoses are individually prepared, after exact measurement of the patient's ergonomic conditions, for instance by methods such as “rapid prototyping” or “rapid manufacturing”. Nevertheless, it has been found that for many patients it is hardly predictable which exact design is preferable for the orthosis to support the movement behavior in an optimum manner.
For the prior art orthosis systems, individual embodiments have to be determined already before preparation of the orthosis: for instance, for a lower-limb orthosis, it has to be decided whether the support needs to be ventral or dorsal. Usually, the degrees of hardness and the height of sole and support have to be predefined, since a later exchange is not possible. Due to these general conditions, the patient cannot compare different embodiments, such that it cannot be determined whether a certain orthosis represents already the optimum design. Furthermore, without a complete redesign, the common orthosis systems cannot be adjusted to body modifications (e.g., when the patient's body height increases). Usually, compromise solutions are sought due to the cost pressure.